Shooter Tushar Mane bags silver in Youth Olympics
BUENOS AIRES: India opened its medal account at the Youth Olympic Games with shooter Tushar Mane bagging a silver in the men’s 10m air rifle event while judoka Tababi Devi Thangjam at least assuring herself a silver by progressing to the final of the 44kg women’s category on the opening day of competitions here Sunday. Mane, who qualified third for the final, shot 247.5 to win the silver while Grigorii Shamakov took the gold with 249.2. Aleksa Mitrovic of Serbia won the bronze with a score of 227.9. It was close fight among the three podium finishers till the end and Mane edged out Mitrovic for the silver medal by collecting 228.0 as against 227.9 of the Serbian shooter in the penultimate round. But, the final round was not the best one for the Indian as he shot 9.6 and 9.99 while the eventual gold winner had 10.4 and 10.7. (PTI)
U-18 Women’s SAFF Meet: India beat Bhutan 1-0
THIMPU: India women beat Bhutan by a solitary strike from Devneta Roy to finish third in the U-18 SAFF Football Championship on Sunday. Devneta scored the winner in the 73rd minute which proved to be the difference between the two teams in a closely contested encounter. In the 15th minute, Devneta failed to tap home from close range after a cross from the left flank found her in perfect position. Back-to-back chances for Balamurugan failed to see the light the day as the Indian women upped the ante. In the 24th minute, Bala’s shot from inside the 18-yard box missed the target and her powerful nod in the 27th minute went over the horizontal. After change of ends, hosts Bhutan started on a positive note and dominated possession as India hit on the counter. In the 73rd minute, Devneta, after sidestepping her marker, lobbed the ball over the opposition custodian to give India its decisive lead. (PTI)
Indian shuttlers win five medals in Asia Junior C’ship
NEW DELHI: Meghana Reddy and Tasnim Mir won the girls doubles crown as Indian shuttlers bagged five medals in the Badminton Asia Junior U-17 and U-15 championships which concluded at Mandalay, Myanmar on Sunday. Meghana and Tasnim pair defeated Korean duo of Yeo Jin Gong and Da Yeon Jeong 23-21 21-18 in the final to secure the Under-15 girls doubles title. The Indians took an early slender lead only to increase it midway through. But the Koreans caught up soon as an intense battle ensued and at 21-20, the Indians managed to go up by a point before dropping one to the Koreans. On their next chance, the Indians took the lead and capitalised on it to pocket the first game. Meghana took care of the forecourt while Tasnim complimented her from behind as they swapped positions nicely and kept their Korean rivals on the toes as the duo won the second game to wrap up the tie. (PTI)
Osaka pulls out of Hong Kong Open with back injury
HONGKONG: US Open champion Naomi Osaka has pulled out of this week’s Hong Kong Open to prevent aggravating a slight back injury, organisers said on Sunday. The Japanese star required treatment to her lower back during her semi-final defeat to unseeded Anastasija Sevastova at the China Open in Beijing on Saturday. Afterwards, Osaka, who turns 21 on October 16, said it was more a case of fatigue than anything more serious, but suggested that she may not make the WTA Hong Kong Open, which starts on Monday. (AFP)